Post by Strategist on Jan 8, 2020 3:59:07 GMT
2018 Review:
Record: 89-73 1st in AL Central. R/G Scored: 1st (AL) R/G Against: 6th (AL). Lost in DIV series 3-2 to TEX.
Starting the Offseason:
Lineup: Had best lineup in the AL in 2018 and had a core of DH J.D. Martinez, CF Charlie Blackmon, 3B Justin Turner, LF Michael Brantly, 1B Brandon Belt, and SS Corey Seager all back providing a stunning offensive core to build around. Even with holes at 2B, C and RF I think they were in the discussion for best lineups in the AL.
Rotation: The rotation was a different story. Only Brad Peacock, Garrett Richards, and Ross Stripling projected to be average. As noted previously the starting pitcher market was insane. The White Sox did manage to snag Nathan Eovaldi who had a solid #2 SP type projection which made him by far the best the Sox had.
Bullpen: At closer was relief ace Jose Alvarado and a few other above average RPs. Decided to compliment them by going out and signing Blake Weiman. Even with the additions to the rotation and bullpen the Sox's plan was to outscore people.
Early Season:
The season started out worst case scenario for the Sox as their thin rotation got thinner with Peacock getting hurt for 3 months. Then the rotation as a whole didn't preform. On top of that the lineup outside of Martinez, Seager, Turner and Brantley really struggled. This lead to them falling 10 GB in the AL Central race.
Mid/Late Season:
This lead to Corey placing pretty much everyone on their major league roster on the block. The Sox's would eventually move Blackmon, Martinez and Alvarado receiving some high end prospects in return. It also helped clear out quite a bit of future cap space. Still an overall competitive team that would finish 79-83 in 4th in the AL central which by record wise finished as the best division in the AL.
Lineup: 9th (AL) in runs scored. Seager, Turner, and Martinez (while he was there) were great. Belt, and Brantley were above average. After that they had some very bad seasons. Drew Jackson hit .190 in 495 ABs. Marco Hernandez hit .213 in 573 ABs. And Blackmon hit .221 in 385 ABs before being traded. Just too many spots in the lineup performed poorly for this team to be as potent as it was the year prior.
Rotation: 12th (AL) in starters' ERA. Only unkown Aaron Wilkerson provided decent starting pitching going 5-1 3.14 ERA in 14 GS.
Bullpen: 8th (AL) in bullpen ERA. With how much work the bullpen had it preformed admirably. Alvarado was very good prior to getting traded. Gott, Petit, Weiman and Clark all pitched solid.
In Conclusion:
I do think that the Sox probably could have filled C, 2B, and RF holes a little better prior to the season to give the lineup a little more depth they still have a very good lineup. Almost every contender needed SP. It was very hard to find it. I know because I was one of those teams so it is really hard to fault any team too much for not making their rotation better. They did go out and get Eovaldi to be the #1 type guy but he just didn't work out. It will be interesting to see what Corey does this offseason. Completely commit to a rebuild by moving more players or try to retool around, Seager, Turner and Brantley.
Trades Overview:
RF J.D. Martinez to CLE for SS Carter Kieboom, RF Calvin Mitchell, SS Willi Castro, and SS Nick Gordon - Wrote about in depth in the Indians year in review but to summarize very good return for a player with an opt out after the season.
CF Charlie Blackmon to NYY for C M.J. Melendez, and 3B Alec Brohm - Able to move off of Blackmon's contract and got Brohm who is a consensus top 50 overall prospect.
RP Jose Alvarado to KC for RP David Hernandez, Emmanuel Rivera, and Tyson Miller - Alvarado was in the middle of a down year IRL so I think that muted the return he got as Rivera and Miller are both lower tier prospects but do have some upside.
FA Overview:
RP Blake Weiman 3 yr 27 Mil - A young RP who has a ton of potential. Pitched well with a 3.77 ERA 104 Ks in 117 IP. Pitched in the minors all year IRL and Dominated in 19 IP in AA but wasn't particularly good in the 11.2 IP in AAA but I don't think that will hurt his ratings all that much. Should still be a solid left arm out of the pen. I do think a little high priced for a reliever that has never pitched in the MLB. C
SP Nathan Eovaldi 4 yr 88.48 Mil - This is one of those deals that before the season I would have probably given it an A-/B+ rating as the need was high for a SP. His 2019 performance in the sim and IRL though causes this to be a big concern the next 3 years. I would bet that he will still get an average to slightly below average projection for next season so if he can bounce back IRL then this contract might not end up so bad but as of now got to go with D. Keeping in mind how well I would have graded it before the season prevented me from giving it an F as GMs we can't really control when a player performs so far below his projection.
Overall D. As stated above this is a grade in hindsight which is a lot easier to do.
Record: 89-73 1st in AL Central. R/G Scored: 1st (AL) R/G Against: 6th (AL). Lost in DIV series 3-2 to TEX.
Starting the Offseason:
Lineup: Had best lineup in the AL in 2018 and had a core of DH J.D. Martinez, CF Charlie Blackmon, 3B Justin Turner, LF Michael Brantly, 1B Brandon Belt, and SS Corey Seager all back providing a stunning offensive core to build around. Even with holes at 2B, C and RF I think they were in the discussion for best lineups in the AL.
Rotation: The rotation was a different story. Only Brad Peacock, Garrett Richards, and Ross Stripling projected to be average. As noted previously the starting pitcher market was insane. The White Sox did manage to snag Nathan Eovaldi who had a solid #2 SP type projection which made him by far the best the Sox had.
Bullpen: At closer was relief ace Jose Alvarado and a few other above average RPs. Decided to compliment them by going out and signing Blake Weiman. Even with the additions to the rotation and bullpen the Sox's plan was to outscore people.
Early Season:
The season started out worst case scenario for the Sox as their thin rotation got thinner with Peacock getting hurt for 3 months. Then the rotation as a whole didn't preform. On top of that the lineup outside of Martinez, Seager, Turner and Brantley really struggled. This lead to them falling 10 GB in the AL Central race.
Mid/Late Season:
This lead to Corey placing pretty much everyone on their major league roster on the block. The Sox's would eventually move Blackmon, Martinez and Alvarado receiving some high end prospects in return. It also helped clear out quite a bit of future cap space. Still an overall competitive team that would finish 79-83 in 4th in the AL central which by record wise finished as the best division in the AL.
Lineup: 9th (AL) in runs scored. Seager, Turner, and Martinez (while he was there) were great. Belt, and Brantley were above average. After that they had some very bad seasons. Drew Jackson hit .190 in 495 ABs. Marco Hernandez hit .213 in 573 ABs. And Blackmon hit .221 in 385 ABs before being traded. Just too many spots in the lineup performed poorly for this team to be as potent as it was the year prior.
Rotation: 12th (AL) in starters' ERA. Only unkown Aaron Wilkerson provided decent starting pitching going 5-1 3.14 ERA in 14 GS.
Bullpen: 8th (AL) in bullpen ERA. With how much work the bullpen had it preformed admirably. Alvarado was very good prior to getting traded. Gott, Petit, Weiman and Clark all pitched solid.
In Conclusion:
I do think that the Sox probably could have filled C, 2B, and RF holes a little better prior to the season to give the lineup a little more depth they still have a very good lineup. Almost every contender needed SP. It was very hard to find it. I know because I was one of those teams so it is really hard to fault any team too much for not making their rotation better. They did go out and get Eovaldi to be the #1 type guy but he just didn't work out. It will be interesting to see what Corey does this offseason. Completely commit to a rebuild by moving more players or try to retool around, Seager, Turner and Brantley.
Trades Overview:
RF J.D. Martinez to CLE for SS Carter Kieboom, RF Calvin Mitchell, SS Willi Castro, and SS Nick Gordon - Wrote about in depth in the Indians year in review but to summarize very good return for a player with an opt out after the season.
CF Charlie Blackmon to NYY for C M.J. Melendez, and 3B Alec Brohm - Able to move off of Blackmon's contract and got Brohm who is a consensus top 50 overall prospect.
RP Jose Alvarado to KC for RP David Hernandez, Emmanuel Rivera, and Tyson Miller - Alvarado was in the middle of a down year IRL so I think that muted the return he got as Rivera and Miller are both lower tier prospects but do have some upside.
FA Overview:
RP Blake Weiman 3 yr 27 Mil - A young RP who has a ton of potential. Pitched well with a 3.77 ERA 104 Ks in 117 IP. Pitched in the minors all year IRL and Dominated in 19 IP in AA but wasn't particularly good in the 11.2 IP in AAA but I don't think that will hurt his ratings all that much. Should still be a solid left arm out of the pen. I do think a little high priced for a reliever that has never pitched in the MLB. C
SP Nathan Eovaldi 4 yr 88.48 Mil - This is one of those deals that before the season I would have probably given it an A-/B+ rating as the need was high for a SP. His 2019 performance in the sim and IRL though causes this to be a big concern the next 3 years. I would bet that he will still get an average to slightly below average projection for next season so if he can bounce back IRL then this contract might not end up so bad but as of now got to go with D. Keeping in mind how well I would have graded it before the season prevented me from giving it an F as GMs we can't really control when a player performs so far below his projection.
Overall D. As stated above this is a grade in hindsight which is a lot easier to do.